Rescuing TikTok: Can McCourt’s Vision Keep 7 Million American Businesses Alive?

The ban on social media app TikTok in the US is just 10 days away. As the clock ticks, we’d like to confirm that billionaire entrepreneur Frank McCourt’s group Project Liberty is very keen on purchasing the company from its Chinese parent firm ByteDance.

Project Liberty confirmed yesterday how it has submitted the proposal for the purchase where it would restructure the app so it can exist more safely and efficiently through a US platform. It would also ensure the top priority would be users’ safety, the statement on the matter added.

The project dubbed People’s Bid for TikTok hopes ByteDance could consider the lucrative deal with a great vision of a new and improved TikTok. This would thoroughly be designed using American tech that ensures people come first before anything else. Ensuring the app stays alive in America without subjecting the need for an algorithm with Chinese roots is not an easy task but it’s necessary to avoid a ban.

Millions of Americans would still be able to enjoy using TikTok like before, the internet advocacy group adds. One spokesperson for the group shared how it didn’t want to disclose the financial details of the agreement just yet but hoped and waited for a reply from ByteDance.

For now, the Supreme Court will hear more arguments relating to this ban which came into play after the Biden administration said yes last year in April. So far, ByteDance has rejected all claims and offers for a possible sellout so it does not seem that this would be a deal it would be accepting anytime soon.

Instead, the Chinese parent firm has appealed this legislation on grounds linked to the First Amendment. The legal issues have ended up working their way into the judicial system. The most recent update on this front is how the American Court of Appeals made a ruling in favor of the law. It spoke about how the justification provided about the threat to national security is so compelling and justifies the need for a ban.

However, TikTok continued to defend its stance on this matter and how it might cost American businesses and creators that make a living through the app a whopping $1.3B in revenue for a single month. Moreover, that would also keep a whopping 7 million American users away from operating a business through the app.

The ban stops the maintenance and distribution of TikTok while it is still linked to ByteDance. But with the new Project Liberty deal, we could see the app be openly sourced enabling users to have more and full control of their information as the goal of that company is building a web that’s user-empowered.

The project will also entail other investors for the mighty purchase like banking groups and law companies. Others who will play a role include digital safety rights advocates and even the inventor of the World Wide Web which is major news.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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